A Talking, Dog-Watching Robot Vacuum Cleaner

By

Sarah Berlow

May 8, 2012 8:13 pm JST

Associated Press

Sharp Corp.’s Cocorobo is a vacuum cleaner that can talk and watch your dog.

In The Jetsons, the family’s robot maid Rosie did household chores and was treated as a member of the space-age cartoon family. Sharp Corp. Tuesday unveiled its real-life version of Rosie, dubbed Cocorobo — or, a robot with a heart (“kokoro.”)

Cocorobo’s many gadgets make iRobot’s popular Roomba look like it should be sold alongside Easy Bake ovens. Voice recognition technology enables Cocorobo’s vacuum to respond to greetings or commands — in multiple languages or dialects. (So far, though, its vocabulary is limited to about 30 phrases, such as “I understand.”)